Although it's not a cruiseship, I was in a very upscale restaurant this weekend in Knoxville that not only allows smoking in their bar but even hosts a weekly Cigar Club in their bar! How can they do this without upsetting non-smokers. Very simply. I can sit at the bar and have a cigarette yet my sister-in-law sat who can't stand smoking and was sitting right next to me was not bothered at all. It's all due to a specialized and very expensive ventilation system.

So for anyone interested in solving this problem to the satisfaction of both smokers and non smokers, there is a solution. So much for "political correctness."

Here in Massachusetts, our "Great and General Court" (legislature) enacted a law banning smoking in any indoor place of employment -- and "place of employment" includes any room that a janitor must enter to clean, even if no other worker enters the room for any other purpose. The installation of such your fancy ventillation system would not satisfy this law.

This law actually did quite a bit to clean up state politics. The back rooms where legislators meet to cobble together their deals are no longer smoke-filled. ;-o